A Los Angeles County Fire truck passes a New York Street facade on Monday, June 2, 2008, at the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot, a day after a fire destroyed the sets of iconic films, in the Universal City section of Los Angeles, Calif.

AP Photo/Ric Francis

In the suit, UMG has been accused of negligence for not doing enough to prevent the spread of the fire while also hiding the extent of the damage from artists whose music was supposedly destroyed, according to Rolling Stone.

Back in 2009, while allegedly “concealing” the losses of the fire, UMG pursued litigation against NBC to make up for its losses. Why? Because the backlot that became engulfed in flames was the property of the mammoth television network.

The companies reportedly reached a settlement while UMG was additionally compensated for its losses through insurance claims. UMG valued the damages at US$150 million.

As a result of this, the plaintiffs are now seeking “50% of any settlement proceeds and insurance payments received by UMG for the loss of the master recordings, and 50% of any remaining loss of value not compensated by such settlement proceeds and insurance payments,” as reported by Variety.

Los Angeles firefighters extinguish a fire at a building at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sunday, June 1, 2008.

Nick Ut / AP Photo

The lawsuit reads: “UMG stored the master recordings embodying plaintiffs’ musical works in an inadequate, substandard storage warehouse located on the backlot of Universal Studios that was a known firetrap.”

The document added: “UMG did not speak up immediately or even ever inform its recording artists that the master recordings embodying their musical works were destroyed.”

“In fact,” they continued, “UMG concealed the loss with false public statements such as that ‘we only lost a small number of tapes and other material by obscure artists from the 1940s and 50s.'”

“To this day, UMG has failed to inform plaintiffs that their master recordings were destroyed in the fire,” claimed the document in conclusion.

Although the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot was not owned by UMG, the recent lawsuit pins the blame on the company solely, claiming it was fully aware of the fire hazards surrounding the property.

A handful of buildings, the infamous King Kong Encounter attraction and a video vault containing more than 40,000 copies of various digital and physical TV shows and films were also destroyed in the massive blaze, according to the Toronto Star.